Insurance Policies Being Issued To Persons On Deathbed? Allahabad HC Orders Probe; Issues Warrant Against HDFC Life Official

A bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal also issued a bailable warrant through the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Moradabad, against the Operation Manager and Branch Head of HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd., Moradabad, for playing 'hide and seek' with the court.

The bench passed the order while dealing with a bail application filed by one Nawab Ali alias Nawabuddin, who has been booked for the offences of Cheating, Forgery and Criminal Conspiracy under the BNS.

Briefly put, following the death of a policyholder, HDFC Life Insurance paid a maturity amount of Rs. 9 lakh 60 thousand to the widow. However, the accused allegedly took half of the amount, i.e. Rs 4 lakh 80 thousand. Hence, an FIR was lodged against him.

Before the HC, the counsel of the accused claimed that since he had borne the expenses for obtaining the health insurance from the HDFC Life Insurance Company, as per the agreement, the applicant had taken "liaisoning money", which is half of the total ensured amount.

In such a view of the matter, the bench, on Feb 18, directed the concerned Branch Manager of HDFC Life in Moradabad to appear in person before the Court and explain whether, while granting an insurance policy, they charge any amount for processing or service charges.

However, on February 25, the concerned Branch Head did not appear; instead, an advocate appeared and submitted that he had received instructions from the Branch Head, though he had not filed a Vakalatnama.

Considering this act as disobedience and disrespect to the Court, which falls within the purview of contempt, the Court directed the SSP, Moradabad, to ensure the Branch Head's presence on the next day.

However, even on the next day, the concerned Branch Head did not appear, and the Sub-Inspector produced one Ashish Agarwal, the Head of Sales Department in the branch.

The Court perused an e-mail showing that the Operation Manager/Branch Head (Pulkit Gupta), had informed his legal department about the police notice but requested the Senior Legal Manager to make arrangements for someone else to appear.

Taking serious note of this conduct, the Court observed thus:

"This is very serious that a person who was specifically directed by this Court kept on playing hide and seek game instead of appearing before this court in compliance of the order of this court. It is also surprising that SSP, Moradabad, instead of verifying the fact that the court had specifically directed the Branch Head of HDFC Life Insurance, Civil Lines, Moradabad, ensured the appearance of some other officer, who is not concerned with this case and does not have complete information regarding the case in hand".

Consequently, the Court issued a warrant against the Branch Head, directing that, upon his appearance, he will show cause why contempt proceedings may not be initiated against him for deliberate non-compliance with the orders.

Posting the matter for March 11, the bench further directed the SSP, Moradabad, to be more careful in future and ensure the presence of the concerned official on the next date.

Importantly, before parting with the issue, the Court noted that it has come across a number of cases wherein the life insurance policy was issued to the person who was on the deathbed through middlemen.

Consequently, the Court directed the Vice President, Risk Management Committee Unit (RMCU), New Delhi, to conduct an enquiry in the Moradabad region regarding such forged policies issued to persons already on their deathbed and the role of the officials of HDFC Life Insurance Company.